Given the twin concerns of peak oil and climate change, it's no surprise that natural gas (with its lower carbon intensity than coal) has been hailed by many as the salvation of our modern way of life, at least for now. And with the discovery of enormous deposits under Marcellus Shale in the Eastern US, and other deposits in the Southwest, it's even more appealing, since that is keeping prices relatively low.

ADVERTISEMENT

In fact, according to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, President Obama "has made clear that natural gas has a central role to play in our energy economy."

Unfortunately, in our eagerness to get our hands on all that shale gas, we have allowed what seemed to be an expedient solution to be applied, once again, without truly understanding its broader implications.

Apparently, we seem to be having a hard time learning the basic lesson that everything is connected to everything else, even if it's underground. So, it seems that large volumes of water pumped into the ground at high pressure, in a process called hydraulic fracturing or fracking, does not simply disappear.